There have been in the past many non-standard gauge railways and tramways. There are two categories. Larger than standard gauge are mainly the Russian systems, also found in former Soviet states and dependencies, such as Finland and Mongolia. But there are also the Irish gauge, only found elsewhere in South Australia and Victoria. There is also the very large Indian gauge systems, also found in Pakistan and some South American countries. The Spanish gauge was also adopted in Portugal and some of the South American countries.
Far more numerous are the smaller gauges, used for tramways and colonial rail systems. These include the metre gauge systems found in former French and German colonies in Africa, and in minor European systems, and in India and East Africa. The former British colonial systems often adopted the slightly larger Cape gauge of 3ft 6in. As I have frequently travelled on many of these colonial systems I am aware of their deficiencies as practical transport and see no reason to praise them. There is a tendency at last to replace some of them with Standard Gauge. I welcome that development. However, the cost of replacement means that several of the former narrow gauge systems in Africa are being abandoned without being replaced. That is a loss for practical transport. We may note Sierra Leone where a penny pinching British government adopted a very restricted narrow gauge - less even than metre gauge - and the lines have now been abandoned, even before the civil wars, as being too slow to compete with road transport. (And of course the difficulty of supplying modern traction in a gauge that is not manufactured anywhere.) How far did that inadequate transport system lead to the numerous civil wars that have destroyed the country? Not only the restricted speed within the country was a drawback but also there was no possibility to connect up with neighbouring territories. At the very least the adoption of metre gauge might have led to the possibility of connection with the neighbours, when more trade might have benefitted the people. Even the single Cape gauge mining railway was an improvement.
What was so bad about these smaller gauges? They were SLOW. Taking the train from Nairobi to Mombasa was quite pleasant - at least if the passenger was in the comfortable first or second class. But the journey took 12 hours. The experience of the replacement Standard Gauge train which takes much less time is a very welcome development. Most passengers do not enjoy trundling along so slowly. And the faster train does not need to provide expensive sleeping cars.
One might also wonder whether the larger Russian gauge has affected world politics. How much has the difficulty of providing inter-connection with the Standard gauge neighbours affected Russian exclusiveness and threatened wars?
South America, along with Africa, suffers from different gauges. The countries have been unable to connect with each other which may well have caused the lack of economic development so common there.
Far more numerous are the smaller gauges, used for tramways and colonial rail systems. These include the metre gauge systems found in former French and German colonies in Africa, and in minor European systems, and in India and East Africa. The former British colonial systems often adopted the slightly larger Cape gauge of 3ft 6in. As I have frequently travelled on many of these colonial systems I am aware of their deficiencies as practical transport and see no reason to praise them. There is a tendency at last to replace some of them with Standard Gauge. I welcome that development. However, the cost of replacement means that several of the former narrow gauge systems in Africa are being abandoned without being replaced. That is a loss for practical transport. We may note Sierra Leone where a penny pinching British government adopted a very restricted narrow gauge - less even than metre gauge - and the lines have now been abandoned, even before the civil wars, as being too slow to compete with road transport. (And of course the difficulty of supplying modern traction in a gauge that is not manufactured anywhere.) How far did that inadequate transport system lead to the numerous civil wars that have destroyed the country? Not only the restricted speed within the country was a drawback but also there was no possibility to connect up with neighbouring territories. At the very least the adoption of metre gauge might have led to the possibility of connection with the neighbours, when more trade might have benefitted the people. Even the single Cape gauge mining railway was an improvement.
What was so bad about these smaller gauges? They were SLOW. Taking the train from Nairobi to Mombasa was quite pleasant - at least if the passenger was in the comfortable first or second class. But the journey took 12 hours. The experience of the replacement Standard Gauge train which takes much less time is a very welcome development. Most passengers do not enjoy trundling along so slowly. And the faster train does not need to provide expensive sleeping cars.
One might also wonder whether the larger Russian gauge has affected world politics. How much has the difficulty of providing inter-connection with the Standard gauge neighbours affected Russian exclusiveness and threatened wars?
South America, along with Africa, suffers from different gauges. The countries have been unable to connect with each other which may well have caused the lack of economic development so common there.